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October
23, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 18Oakland,
CA
Catholics urged
to imitate heroic
virtues displayed by the Amish
SAN DIEGO (CNS) -- Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony
called on the Catholic faithful to imitate the heroic virtue displayed
by the Amish of Pennsylvania as they faced the “tremendous tragedy”
of the recent schoolhouse shootings.
“I was simply stunned,” the cardinal said, “when I first
heard about these shootings and these children being killed and critically
injured.
“But I was more astounded as I began to see these Amish people going
about dealing with this tremendous tragedy,” he added.
The cardinal’s remarks came in a homily to the Western lieutenancy
of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher who had gathered for a
Mass and investiture ceremony Oct. 8 on the campus of the University of
San Diego.
Addressing his remarks primarily to the men and women who were about to
be invested into the order, the cardinal recounted how the Amish had gone
the very day of the shootings, which occurred Oct. 2, to console and bring
forgiveness to the wife of the shooter. He recounted how they had made
meals for her and her three children throughout the week, just as they
had for the families of the girls who were shot.
“That is heroic,” the cardinal said. “Can you imagine
yourself, can I imagine myself having that level, that degree of courage
to live out Christian forgiveness in such an extraordinary manner? It
is difficult for us to understand and to comprehend, but that is precisely
the level and degree of forgiveness that Jesus preached time and time
again and calls us to imitate in our own lives.”
According to state police, 32-year-old Charles Carl Roberts IV entered
a one-room Amish schoolhouse in West Nickel Mines, Pa., and shot 10 girls
before taking his own life. Three of the girls died at the scene, and
two others died shortly after they were hospitalized. Four of the five
injured girls continued to recuperate; doctors said the fifth girl suffered
a head wound and was not expected to survive.
The cardinal said the Amish also have started an education fund for the
children of the shooter.
“Extraordinary. Extraordinary. Heroic. Courageous. Unbelievable,”
he said. “And that is the standard that has been given to you and
to me. Are we willing to be invested today as Knights and Ladies and accept
that degree of virtue? A very, very difficult challenge.”
The cardinal added that the virtue of forgiveness among the Amish was
accompanied by the virtue of “simple goodness.” He noted how
they had not sought media attention but had humbly accepted “God’s
plan for them” and had shown “an overflowing sense of goodness
and self-giving.”
The cardinal said the one who exemplified this goodness most for him was
13-year-old Marian Fisher, who had begged the shooter to take her life
and to let the younger girls go.
“’Shoot me first and let the other girls go.’ What extraordinary
goodness and charity,” the cardinal said. Marian was one of the
five who died; her 11-year-old sister, Barbie, survived.
He said he will never again hear the command of Jesus that those who wish
to enter the kingdom of heaven must become like one of these little ones
without thinking of those Amish children and their goodness.
The solemn investiture of Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher was
part of the annual meeting of the order’s Western lieutenancy held
this year in Coronado.
The order traces its roots to the time of the Crusades, but today it is
dedicated to the personal holiness of its members and charitable support
for Christians in the Holy Land. The Western lieutenancy includes Arizona,
Southern California, Nevada, Utah and Hawaii.
A group of Amish men listen to a report on the shooting
at an Amish school in Lancaster County, Pa., Oct. 2.
CNS PHOTO/Tim SHAFFER/REUTERS
An Amish boy is embraced by his mother during a
Mass, Oct. 5, at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Quarryville, Pa. for
the victims of the Oct. 2 shooting at a nearby Amish school. The Amish
also attended the funeral for the man who shot 10 girls before killing
himself.
CNS PHOTO/CHRIS HEISEY/CATHOLIC WITNESS
